As a school girl, I was pretty horrendous at meeting deadlines for handing in homework.
At the time I didn’t realise the more I was rebuked and reminded I was going to ruin my future, the more resistant I was to doing the work at all.
Luckily I scraped by. Progressing to the world of work, I didn’t have a problem meeting deadlines or getting things done. I was pretty driven. I was driven because I wanted to do a great job.
I quickly got into the habit of setting myself a “TTD” (things to do list) and liked nothing more than ticking off my tasks. Deadlines were like a big red flag spurring me to action.
On becoming a manager I encountered a problem which my frustrated teachers would have relished. I found not everyone was as driven as me. In fact, in the early days, team members would pitch up late at meetings and even (perish the thought) miss deadlines to complete tasks which put whole projects into jeopardy.
I tried everything I could and although some of my team rose to the occasion, I found I was spending much of my time chasing up work, making sure people were getting things done on time. Even worse, I found deadlines being missed without a raise of an eyebrow by some of the team and even with a casual acceptance. I was mystified.
Working alongside senior managers across different organisations, I realised getting things done on time and to the standard required was a BIG problem. It wasn’t just about meeting deadlines; it was about quality of work and also lack of right actions.
Seeing the why
I realised some people inherently didn’t quite get “accountability”. Even worse, some managers didn’t either.
I pondered this for a long time and one by one a number of factors came together. One day I finally got it. It was a big learning curve and one which made me change the way I led my team. This dawning once I had it, resulted in me leading hugely successful teams which achieved great results. What I learned was this:
People do not accept accountability because they do not see the “Why” in what they do. Lacking purpose, they are resistant to being told what to do because what they are told to do holds no meaning. As a result they remain in their comfort zone and limit their effort.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think people consciously or deliberately hold that stance, but it exists and resistance shows up like this: They will say:
- They aren’t capable; don’t know how; don’t have the capacity…..
- It’s too lengthy; too complicated; too expensive; too messy; too confusing……
What then happens is a constant reshuffling of policies, processes, resources and a call for more or better training.
If you have even a small problem with accountability in your business then you are simply meeting resistance.
There are some simple actions and a culture you can develop which can get great results and turn the tide of people being willing to be held accountable for ever. These are:
- Purpose: Help employees find meaning in your vision. Agree how they will play their part and uncover the reasons why their contribution is meaningful to them, so they are emotionally invested
- Ownership: Don’t make people accountable. Give them responsibility for achieving outcomes, in a way they want to achieve them in a timescale agreed with you both. Build in consequences if they don’t legitimately achieve
- Notice and Act: Notice what happens. Reward great performance, review faltering contributions and follow through on consequences. There is nothing so disempowering for your teams when you have set up an agreement on roles and responsibilities and because of a lack of attention you appear indifferent or ineffective about acting on results both good and bad.
I received a letter from my 15 year old son’s school informing me he hasn’t been handing his homework in. The problem with a 15 year old is he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. Of course, knowing what I now know, the first thing I did was find out his “Why”.
It took some doing, but once he identified a purpose which meant something to him, the change was remarkable.
So, if you do nothing else this week, why not ask Why?
Christina Lattimer is an HR consultant at HR and leadership development consultancy, People Discovery.
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One Response
Understanding the WHY – and ‘Sapiential Control’
YAY to Christina! And this doesn’t just apply to ourselves, but to all those whom we manage and have responsibility.
If you want a motivated and ‘intelligent’/learning organisation, as I am sure we all do, can I promote the philosophy of ‘Sapiential Control’? I know this is a rather unappealing name, but this is for free – and it works!
("Sapiens"? Latin for wisdom and knowledge. Origin? Japanese, I believe. But I got it from a deeply wise ex-SAS officer who moved into Organisational Development, Continuous Improvement and ‘Total Quality’ – one Eric Laws…)
All my own hands-on management experience leads me to believe that this is essential in any workforce, and yet is(strangely) counter-cultural for many organisations. It requires some degree of trust, sincere respect for those we employ, and a wise management! See what you think?
The thesis is that most people really do want to do a good job, at any level. (If you don’t agree, read no further?) But they need to be allowed to do so, and the right conditions. Of course, ‘management’ must manage the work, but the rest of us must be allowed to manage our own jobs within that constraint. Of course, this needs shared corporate/organisational objectives, shared values, mutual trust, great communication skills and conduits, and all the rest. But it also requires each employee’s ‘sapiential control’ of their own job, once fully trained, specifically informed by the answers to the following five questions:
– I know WHAT my job is;
– I know ‘WHY’ my job is, and how it impacts on all my colleagues. (Christina’ point?);
– I know HOW to do my job – obviously?;
– I know HOW WELL I am doing – well, badly or indifferently – objectively and fairly (and regularly, not intermittently!);
– I know (or am encouraged to find out ) HOW to to do it EVEN BETTER.
All blindingly obvious? I always thought so as an MD – until I asked my colleagues across some 25 sites in the UK when I first came across this philosophy. Some managers resisted – especially first-line supervisors. ("What? – take away *our* control? You’ll do us out of a job!") Now, some years later after talking with many other organisations, I know this is not at all obvious!
And what a breath of fresh air this approach can produce! People I was responsible for who had even quite ‘ordinary’ (if very important) jobs in my organisation felt able to contribute meaningfully for the first time. They knew very well what worked within their own jobs, and what didn’t. But they claimed they had never been asked! (Not actually true in many cases, but they believed they hadn’t been listened to – which was almost certianly true.) And in this new environment, they came up with more ingenious and productive ideas within their own spehere of action than many more highly paid managers had done in several generations. The principles of ‘Kaizen’ (little by little, small continuous improvements add up to vast leaps forward) – beautifully demonstrated.
Do try it? But please note: this process has to be driven, and fully supported, from the top! If the bosses don’t really believe in it, why should anyone else?
Jeremy
Jeremy@JeremyThorn.co.uk